ETR's Acro Tank

EricTheRed

EricTheRed

No, I'm not a communist..
The time has come for me to finally reboot my 90G after the crash earlier this year. The tank has been sitting dormant for about 6 months while I marinated in the lose of so many acro's and other nice coral. After the crash I focused on stocking my 75G with 6 awesome BTA's and some slick softies.

Now it's time to focus on getting the SPS tank up and running again and this time I'm taking my time and setting things up the way I wished I had in the beginning. As the title says, this is going to be primarily an acro tank. I'm sure I'll have a few monti's mixed in, a clam or two and likely a few chalices. Otherwise this will strictly be an SPS tank...no softies or LPS. I also have a sweet new yellow bellied Regal Angel hanging out in another tank ready to be introduced as soon as the cycle is complete.

I'm using the same stand as before. There were a few worn areas that I lightly sanded and re-stained...it looks good as new. As far as all the old rock, I soaked it in bleach for a day then gave it an acid bath. It looks great and the acid bath cooked off the outer layer and exposed a more porous surface on most of the rock.

I had a custom sump built by Anthony at Nano Sea Creations. Although it came out 6" longer than I ordered, I'm still very happy with it and the overall quality is top-notch.

I only used about 2/3 of the rock and here's what it looked like after the bath...



Originally I was planning on buying some CeramEco pieces but their only distributor is worthless. I decided to make my own using real reef rock...I think it looks better anyway...



My wife didn't want me to use this rock...it was going to be my centerpiece but she seriously didn't want it visible in our family room...



My plan with this tank to have a more minimal rock-scape to allow for more water and room for fish while allowing lots of places for acros up top. I epoxied the pillars together for stability...







I added 30 lbs of Tropic Eden Reef Flakes, filled the tank and added a few raw shrimp today to start the fish-less cycle. Once the cycle is over I'll update with some new full-tank shots.

So here's the stats:

90G Glass w/ Oak stand and canopy.

Lights:
1) Geismann Spectra Metal Halide & T5. Has 2x250W SINGLE ended and 4x54W T5. I'll be able to run 20kRadiums with 3 ATI Blue Plus and 1 ATI True Actinic
2) Reef Brite XHO 36" LED Strip (all RB)

Flow:
2 MP40's

Skimmer:
Skimz Monster 201. It is suitable for tanks up to 533G...

I've been happy with my RKL and will keep using it but will likely succumb to per pressure and get an APEX in the future.
 
Last edited:
That rock made my laugh out loud... that's hilarious...

Glad to see you getting back into it post acro crash. I finally got through my acro problems about a month and a half ago FINALLY and things are growing like weeds again with minimal losses.... When you're up and running let me know if you need some frags.
 
Ok, so we all know that the first attempt at a new rock scape is never final...so, I made a few changes. I was never happy with the left side of the tank. probably because I ran out of epoxy and couldn't do what I wanted.

With some new tonga branch and a couple epoxy tubes, here's what I think I'm going to stick with....

FTS...



Right side (basically the same as before)...



Left side...

 
EricTheRed said:
My wife didn't want me to use this rock...it was going to be my centerpiece but she seriously didn't want it visible in our family room...

Click to expand...

Now that's a conversation starter!

I'm looking forward to seeing this up and running. I loved your other tank, so I'm sure this one will be great, too, especially if you change your mind and add that whale size penis rock. :eagerness:
 
Last edited:
Alright, the cycle is over and the first inhabitant is happy to have the tank to himself. I intentionally wanted a Regal to make sure I wouldn't get tempted and try making my soon-to-be SPS only tank a mixed reef. I scored this beauty from [MENTION=1113]edsbeaker[/MENTION] and had to have my neighbor [MENTION=50]DanSreef[/MENTION] babysit him for a month+ until my cycle was over. The tank is so pristine right now. I used dry sand plus all the rock was acid bathed. I'm going to do my damnest to make sure that no coraline or algae ever makes its way into this tank. Wish me luck ;)

Obviously needs some white-balance adjustment (not sure if my Galaxy S4 can do that)



 
I have my light up now. I removed the top lid of the canopy and put 2 braces from front to back to sit the fixture on. this way it would rest on top and allow for airflow so as to not overheat the inside of the canopy. I then stained a 5" piece of trim and attached it to the top-front of the canopy, in front of the light, so there wouldn't be any light pollution into the room.



Here's a side shot of the top of the canopy.

 
I went ahead and replaced the durso with a herbie. I used braided vinyl and couldn't happier. It works perfectly.



I used the old return as the emergency drain and just routed the new return behind the tank (thanks to [MENTION=84]ColaAddict[/MENTION] for the idea). Not that attractive but irrelevant since I have a canopy...

 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top